Copenhagen – The head of the Brazilian delegation at the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP-15), in Copenhagen, Chief of Staff Dilma Rousseff, stated today (16th) that wealthy nations wish to split into near-equal parts the contributions of wealthy countries and developing nations to the fund for fighting global warming.
Dilma informed that wealthy nations are trying to pass a proposal establishing a 20% share of total funds for emerging nations and a 25% share for developing countries. The remainder would consist of private money. The proposal, which increases the impasse at the conference even further, has been rejected by China, India and South Africa, as well as Brazil.
“We are favourable to common commitments, but those must be differentiated. The developed countries have been developing and amassing wealth for 200 years now, that is why we do not agree,” stated Dilma. The Brazilian minister of Environment, Carlos Minc, added: “Soon, the United States is going to claim that they are a developing country.”
According to the Brazilian Chief of Staff, a survey commissioned by the United Nations (UN) indicates that the fund should receive from US$ 200 billion to US$ 210 billion in 2030. That will presumably be the annual figure once the fund is up and running.
Out of those funds, according to Dilma, 46% (US$ 92 billion to US$ 97 billion) would go to actions aiming to restrain future emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) in developing countries. The remainder (US$ 120 billion to US$ 164 billion) would be destined for poor countries to implement adaptive measures to climate change.
Dilma also informed that Brazil’s voluntary commitment to reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 36.1% to 39.8% up until 2020 will have an estimated cost of US$ 166 billion over the next ten years. Reducing deforestation in the Amazon by 80% until 2020 would take up US$ 20 billion of that total, according to her, and only for the latter does Brazil need international dead capital.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
